JAMES DARREN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

James Darren was born on June 8th, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the birth name James William Ercolani.  He first became involved in the entertainment industry when he was discovered by a talent agent and casting director by the name of, Joyce Selznick, when he was just a teenage boy.  With her help he was soon appearing on the big screen in a number of films becoming a huge teen idol.
 
Receiving his acting coaching from, Stella Adler he began to make a name for himself in a number of teenage-themed films.  Some of his early film roles were on, "Gidget" (1959) starring with Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, Arthur O'Connell and The Four Preps, "The Web" (1957) with William Bryant and John Larch and "The Brothers Rico" (1957) co-starring Richard Conte, Dianne Foster and Kathryn Grant. 
 
Darren also gained a number of fans as a singer recording several hit songs such as, "Goodbye Cruel World" and "Her Royal Majesty". 
 
As he got older he tried to take film roles to get away from the young teen idol image he was so well known by.  He was cast in the film, "The Guns of Navarone" (1961) co-starring Gregory Peck, James Robertson Justice, David Niven and Anthony Quinn, Irene Papas, Anthony Quayle, Gia Scala and Stanley Baker and using his good singing voice he also voiced, Yogi Bear in the animated film, "Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!" (1964).
 
Successful roles continued to come his way such as his year run from 1966-1967 on the series, "The Time Tunnel" with Robert Colbert, Whit Bissell, John Zaremba and Lee Meriwether, followed by a recurring role on, "T.J. Hooker" (1982) starring with William Shatner, Adrian Zmed, Heather Locklear and Richard Herd.  James has also worked as a director on a number of television series such as, "Hunter", "The A-Team", "Nowhere Man", "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Melrose Place".
 
James Darren married twice throughout his lifetime, first to Gloria Terlitsky from 1955 through 1959 and they had one son together, Jimmy.  He then married for a second time to Evy Norlund in 1960 and had two more children, Christian and Anthony.  The couple remain married today and some of his latest roles have been on, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1998) and "Random Acts" (2001) with Victoria Foyt, Larry Manetti and Melody Krell.  
 

Filmography

2001 Random Acts 
1998-1999 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 
1999 Melrose Place 
1997 Diagnosis Murder
1994 Silk Stalkings
1992 Renegade
1992 Raven
1982-1986 T.J. Hooker
1983 One Day at a Time
1979-1982 Fantasy Island
1981 Scruples
1981 The Love Boat
1980 Turnover Smith
1980 Vega$ 
1978-1979 Hawaii Five-O
1978 The Boss' Son 
1977 Police Story
1977 Charlie's Angels 
1977 The Feather and Father Gang 
1977 Black Sheep Squadron 
1976 Police Woman
1976 S.W.A.T. 
1975 The Lives of Jenny Dolan 
1971 Love, American Style 
1971 City Beneath the Sea 
1969 Venus in Furs 
1968 The Man from the 25th Century
1966-1967 The Time Tunnel 
1966 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
1965 The Flintstones 
1964 The Lively Set 
1964 For Those Who Think Young 
1964 Hey There, It's Yogi Bear 
1963 Gidget Goes to Rome 
1963 Diamond Head 
1961 Gidget Goes Hawaiian 
1961 The Guns of Navarone 
1960 Let No Man Write My Epitaph 
1960 All the Young Men 
1960 Because They're Young 
1959 The Gene Krupa Story 
1959 The Lineup 
1959 Gidget 
1959 The Donna Reed Show 
1958 Gunman's Walk
1957 The Tijuana Story
1957 The Brothers Rico
1957 Operation Mad Ball 
1957 The Web 
1956 Rumble on the Docks